Last month I attended a medical conference in Chicago. I try to attend a couple of educational meetings every year to help keep my clinical practices up to date. Continuing education isn’t nearly as strenuous as medical school, which was an eight-hour marathon of class every day. With continuing ed, you stay in a nice hotel near famous museums and sights, and there’s lots of good eating nearby.

This time around I was particularly struck by just how much marketing to physicians went on. It wasn’t just pharmaceuticals — also being pushed were educational courses, employment opportunities, and a variety of consulting services. It’s awkward being targeted as a consumer when your intentions are as a learner. I was also sort of floored to realize that I probably learned as much getting caught up on my medical journals on the inbound flight* as I did during the meeting lectures — but the meeting’s what gets a doc her credit hours. Good perspective for those who insist we need drug companies and device makers to fund ongoing physician education.

*OK, admittedly my flight was re-routed through St. Louis, where the plane was grounded for hours waiting for thunderstorms at O’Hare to clear. So I had some extra reading time.

audrey young

I'm a general internist from Seattle. My first book was What Patients Taught Me. The latest book is House of Hope and Fear, published in August 2009, and now out in paperback. For more about both books and about physician writers, please visit my website.